Mrs. Job

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;And he was essentially a blameless dude, and unarrogant,And he was blessed with seven sons, and three daughters,Which is a lot of children, and where, I ask politely, is thePart of the Book of Job where we talk about Job’s spouse,Who is conspicuously not discussed in the back and forthWith his buddies and then suddenly the Big Guy HimselfAnswering out of the whirlwind and commanding old JobTo gird up his loins, which loins were undeniably vigorousPrevious to the Lord interrupting Job, and after the MakerFinishes one of the greatest eloquent scoldings of all time,He grants old Job another seven sons and three daughters,Again without the slightest thanks for the astounding Mrs.Job who suddenly has twenty count them twenty childrenWith no mention of her humor, or the vast hills of diapers,Or her wit which survived kids throwing up and the sheepWandering off, and plagues of locusts and things like that.A good editor, I feel, would have asked for just a glancingNod to the wry hero of the tale, at least acknowledgment;Something like a new last line after So Job died, being old and full of days, which might read, And also passed a mostAmazing woman, of whom nothing other than the blessingWas ever said, her heart being a gift beyond calculation byMan, her mind sharp, her tongue gentle, her hands a mercy,And her very presence full reason to kneel in prayer at thatWhich the Lord in His mercy has made and granted briefly.A line like that would only hint at her, but it’s a start, right?

Author

Brian Doyle is editor of Portland magazine at the University of Portland. He is the author of Leaping: Revelations and Epiphanies, A Shimmer of Something: Lean Stories of Spiritual Substance, and, most recently, Martin Marten, a novel.